1. Field of the Invention
This invention involves the efficient generation of environmentally clean energy, focused on the commercial generation of electrical power. This invention has a number of additional industrial applications where the working fluid used requires variable temperatures and pressures such as in food processing, oil well high energy gas injection, medical and greenhouse facility constant temperature control, and other applications.
2. Description of the Related Art
The current art in generating a major portion of commercial levels of electrical power, in the United States and world-wide, depends upon thermal generating plants burning hydrocarbon fuels (mainly coal and low grade fuel oils) with air, which contains 23.1% oxygen and 76.9% nitrogen by weight, to generate high enthalpy steam which, in turn, is used to drive turbo-electric generators.
The technology of designing, constructing and operating extremely high energy generators for jet engines, rocket engines, and gas turbine auxiliary power systems, has been significantly advanced in recent years. Generation and controlled use of such extremely high energy levels is a specialized practice and is readily adaptable to commercial industry.
The current state-of-the-art in power generation results in the production of atmospheric pollutants, mainly high levels of nitrogen oxides (NOx), sulfur oxides (SOx), carbon monoxide (CO) and particulate matter. Such emissions are at, and in a great many cases above, critical allowed thresholds levels and must be reduced to preserve clean air. Current U.S. regulatory requirements prescribe the amounts of the above listed atmospheric emissions permitted in particular locations by a given power generating plant. Allowable emission thresholds are decreasing over time putting more and more pressure on industry to reduce emissions. Drastic economic penalties are being established, either in the form of fines (called purchased credits) related to the amounts by which emissions exceed allowable limits, or plants can be ordered to cease emitting operations.
In addition to the undesired effects of the build-up of atmospheric pollutants on the quality of the environment, current art extracts further societal prices in terms of the added costs of pollution control and monitoring equipment, and the purchasing of credits which are passed on to the consumers.
There have been many efforts to solve the emissions problem by exploiting non-combustible energy sources, such as windmills, fuel cells, solar cells, closed cycle solar reflector/boilers, use of tidal motion and others. None of these sources can approach the required output levels in a cost-effective manner, with operating efficiency required for large-scale, sustained commercial applications currently supplied by the conventional thermal power generating plants. Nuclear plants can produce at the required levels of outputs, but they have encountered regulatory requirements leading to high costs, and there is a strong societal opposition to increasing use of nuclear power. Hence nuclear power use in the United States is severely restricted.